


Agony

by Fan_FictionGirl1



Category: Ben 10, Ben 10 Series, ben 10 Omniverse
Genre: Angst, Bromance, Comfort, Gen, Hurt, Hurt and comfort, Major Character Injury, Rook Injured
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:54:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26239666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fan_FictionGirl1/pseuds/Fan_FictionGirl1
Summary: When Rook saves Ben's life, and nearly loses his own in the process, Ben learns just how much he needs his partner at his side, and how far he's willing to go for revenge.
Relationships: Kevin Levin/Gwen Tennyson, Rook Blonko & Ben Tennyson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. ONE

**Author's Note:**

> Haha.. so yeah, just started watching Ben 10 Omniverse in 2020 and just HAD to make a fic.. lol
> 
> I not super far into the show yet so bear with me!! (I'm in like the "spooky" episodes now lol)

Ben grinned with pride as people gathered around the two heroes and the children, chattering excitedly, asking questions, or thanking them heavily. It left a good feeling in the teenager, and he knew Rook had to be proud as well. He turned his head over to his partner for a moment, offering him a goofy grin and a thumbs up. The cat-like alien smiled and dipped his head to his friend in return, looking happy as well. He didn’t usually like public attention that much, unlike Ben, but the boy knew he felt good about what they had done. 

The four kids, two hanging onto Ben’s legs, one holding Rook’s hand and refusing to let go, and the other sitting on the floor between them, were all still quite shaken up, but their relief and excitement about being saved by a super hero was helping. Ben looked down at them again, his heart sinking a little. They were so YOUNG. None of them could have been older than nine. He had been around environments similar this since he was ten, but he was awesome and could handle it. And.. it wasn’t as if it was at least a little scary, at least for him. These kids had been petrified, and had had every right to be. 

'Holding kids hostage.. people are really capable of such awful things?' Sometimes the hero forgot how bad things were within his OWN species, since he was often so busy dealing with alien problems. 

After about then minutes of people crowding and Plumbers holding down the criminals and their weapons, the police finally arrived, and parents came to claim their kids and express their thanks. Ben actually felt a little more flattered than usual, feeling butterflies in his stomach as he spoke to them. It took him a little while to get out of the crowd and join his partner by their TRUK. 

“Quite the heroics today, huh?” he boasted, putting his hands behind his head. 

“Yes,” Rook agreed, still smiling a little bit. “I am glad we got the call in time to help.”

“Those goons weren’t expecting a celebrity like me to take them down,” Ben snorted with a smirk, gesturing to himself. “They thought it would be the cops or something.” 

Rook nodded, frowning a little. “The only reason it was the Plumbers is because of the weapons they were carrying.” His thinking face overtook his features, the alien stroking his fuzzy chin in thought. “Which leads to this question: How did human criminals obtain advanced alien weapons?”

Ben waved his hand dismissively. “Well, on the black market, obviously. It’s not like it’s impossible, since earth is pretty aware of the whole ‘alien situation’,” he noted, making air quotes. 

His partner blinked at him, his furry head tilting to the left a little. “Do you mean to imply that you have dealt with similar situations before?”

The hero shrugged. “A couple times. The Plumbers usually take care of that more than I do; they usually don’t pose such a big threat before they are caught.”

“Well, that was not the case this time,” Rook said, crossing his arms and looking over at the raggedy building where the criminals had been holding the children hostage. “We did not know that there had been any illegal alien weapon sales in any recent events. It was not until this attack was called in that we learned that humans had them.”

“Yeah, and they definitely caused a lot of trouble,” Ben found himself agreeing. He paused to think it over for a moment, wondering if he should be more cautious and worried. After a moment, he shrugged it off. “Hey, but don’t worry about it, dude. We got the bad guys, and we got the weapons! One of them will squeal sooner or later, and then everything will be back on track.”

The alien frowned a little deeper, but sighed and nodded. “I suppose you are right. We have won the day,” he added, a small smile returning. 

Ben grinned big and shot finger guns at him. “Hey, now you’re getting it! We saved the day, dude! We should celebrate!” He patted his stomach and thought of a nice, creamy smoothie with a satisfied expression. 

Rook shook his head with a smile, turning and opening the door to the TRUK. “Would you like to make a ‘pit stop’ at Mr. Smoothies?” he teased slightly, gesturing for him to climb in. 

“You know me well, partner!” Ben laughed, his eyes sparkling as he stepped forward. 

The two of them froze, however, when they heard distressed cries and screams begin to erupt from the dispersing crowd. The partners quickly looked over to see what the issue was, Ben lifting his wrist and Rook reaching for his prototool. It was a bit hard to see what was going on for several moments, having to wait for the plethora of people to clear out from what was scaring them. 

The police, who had begun to take the criminals into custody, had lost their grip on one of the burlier men while cuffing him. The heavy set human kicked and punched them out of his way, barreling through them with a wild expression. Ben was quite surprised at the sudden outburst, not having estimated one of them would dare to do something like that after he got a pretty good butt-kicking. He was still, just staring at the man without realizing how dangerously close he was getting. 

'What is up with this dude?'

Everything happened in a mere matter of seconds. 

“Ben 10!!” he shouted angrily, snapping Ben back to reality. The police and some Plumbers were now hurrying to apprehend him again, but he had several seconds before that would happen. He opened his mouth and pulled something out from under his tongue, something so small it was barely as large as a cotton ball. 

“Bite it!!” the man screamed, touching it with his thumb. There was a tiny beep, and he tossed it at their feet. The teenager looked down at it in confusion, his brain not registering what it could be for a moment, even as the little thing began to click rhythmically. 

Rook, however, caught on much quicker. He jumped into action, grabbing Ben’s shoulders and shoving him out of the way. “Ben, look out!” he shouted in a panic, pushing Ben into the TRUK. 

Everything was happening so fast Ben couldn’t comprehend it. He made a startled noise as he was thrown into the passenger seat of the TRUK, his foot catching the door and closing it behind him with a loud slam. He tripped over himself onto the seat, a grunt escaping him from the force of it. He got a moment to open his eyes and look out the window in confusion, catching Rook duck away. 

Then everything was crashing. 

There was a noise so loud it felt like Ben’s ears were exploding. A powerful force slammed into the truck and sent it flying a few feet to the side, Ben flying around inside. The wheels caught the ground and sent it rolling across the ground once, shoving Ben into the driver’s seat door. His leg was pushed into the steering wheel and pressed on the horn for several seconds as it slowed to a stop, finally tipping over on its back. Ben landed on the roof with a cry, and then everything was finally still. 

The hero felt like he was in a void for a few minutes, the world empty and dark and full of nothing. Then the pain flooded into his body, and sounds began to return to him. He heard sirens going off, and the voices of people outside. He could feel his head throbbing terribly and something warm and sticky sliding over the right side of his face. His knee felt like it had been torn right out of its socket, and his whole body felt bruised from being thrown about inside a small space. 

He lifted his head and groaned, rubbing his head, still trying to figure out what exactly had happened. He felt the warm liquid soak his fingers and pulled his head away from his hand. He gaped at the blood smeared on it and cringed, realizing there was broken glass everywhere. He was lucky he hadn’t been cut anywhere else. 

He racked his aching head for answers. What had just happened? Something had made a loud noise and then the TRUK had gone flying. He could smell things burning.. an explosion. Yes, that had to be it. How had that happened?

'Oh, right. That dude threw it at me.'

His eyes widened and he pushed himself up quickly, despite the screams his aching body thrust at him. Rook! Rook has pushed him into the truck!

'He must’ve known it would take most of the blunt force.'

But he didn’t remember Rook diving in with him. Now that he recalled, Ben had accidentally caught the door with his foot when he had been pushed inside, causing it to close behind him. Trapping Rook outside. 

Trapping Rook outside with the bomb. 

Ben heard a horrified scream, and then realized that it had been him. He crawled the best he could across the roof of the truck, no longer caring about the agony. He reached up, shakily fumbling for the door handle and pulling it down quickly. He swung the door open and scrambled out, pulling himself up and looking around frantically. 

He was surprised at how minimal the damage was. The worn down building was groaning and creaking, but hadn’t crashed in itself yet. He could see people off in the distance, meaning most of them had managed to get far enough away without getting severely hurt. The ground where the bomb had been was now a big whole in the ground, smoking and flaming. Debris was scattered all around it, but not so bad that it had knocked much else down from the building and cars around them. Obviously, the bomb wasn’t meant for a huge scale explosion, but enough of a punch to demolish things with close enough proximity. 

Rook returned to his mind and he grit his teeth, frantically looking around for his partner. Had he managed to find cover? Had he followed the crowd and gotten far enough away? Ben had merely seen him duck away a split second before..

“Rook!!” he screamed, the name thrust from him when he saw a limp, blue and somehow orange body off by the debris. Panicked, he hobbled towards it as fast as he could, clutching his knee in pain. It felt like the more he ran, the farther and farther away Rook was. He panted heavily, sweat now mixing with the blood on his head. His heart was hammering in his chest and it hurt, like it was being squeezed from within. 

Ben dropped to one knee, his injured leg sprawled out across the ground limply. Rook’s back was facing him, his suit looking even darker from the burns. Ben realized with horror that the orange on Rook’s body that he had seen from a distance were small flames, flickering and burning through the battered suit. He cried out in panic, his hands hovering over his friend’s body as he tried to figure out what to do. 

He saw his Omnitrix and immediately he thought of Water Hazard. He could take care of the fires and burns! The teenager quickly reached for his Omnitrix, but pulled his hand back again when sparks sizzled against his fingers. His watch was currently on the fritz, most likely from being battered around inside a vehicle. Ben cursed under his breath and frantically tried to think. After a few moments, he gave up and began rapidly patting the small flames with his hands to put them out. 

He didn’t like how still Rook was. It made his heart beat even faster in fear and left a sinking feeling in his stomach. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the alien’s shoulders and gently but quickly turned him over onto his back. He pulled Rook’s upper body onto his lap, resting his head in the crook of his arms.

He was shocked and horrified at how awful his partner looked. Rook’s fur was burned considerably bad over his chest, shoulders, and back. There was a huge gash above his right eye, blood running down his face and staining his fur patterns. His arm was bent in a very unnatural way, and his side looked like it had taken a lot of the blunt force trauma. He was limp in Ben’s arms, not making a single sound. 

He was completely still. 

Ben could feel himself losing it, his head throbbing with pain and with a thousand different thoughts. His chest felt like it was going to burst and for a moment he was stuck, not sure what to do. 

He heard something echoing in the back of his ears, making him look up in distress. He saw two Plumber officers hurriedly heading his way, neither of which was able to recognize in his hysteria. He gripped Rook’s shoulders a little harder and opened his mouth to call out to them for help, but nothing could come out. 

“Ben!” the first officer, a human male with bits of facial hair and a stockier build, cried out to him, bending down and taking the boy’s shoulders. “Stay calm! Are you hurt? Can you see clearly?”

The other Plumber, a reptilian alien with lizard like eyes and rough skin, crouched by Ben’s other side, looking over the pair with serious concern in her eyes. She gently grabbed Ben’s shoulders and tried to catch his attention, but Ben’s eyes had averted to Rook again and he couldn’t tear them away. 

“He’s not breathing,” he whispered, watching his much too still chest. He placed one hand over it, feeling for something, *anything*, but there was nothing. “He’s not breathing!” He looked up at the adults with panic, feeling his whole body tremble in fear. 

The man’s eyes widened and he looked down at the severely injured officer. He grit his teeth and quickly moved Ben’s arms out of the way, grabbing Rook and laying him flat on the ground. He pressed his ear against the alien’s chest and listened for a few seconds before quickly sitting up again. He didn’t look back to the others or say a word, but immediately began pumping Rook’s chest.  
Ben felt his heart sink to his stomach as he watched the Plumber count and blow into Rook’s mouth, desperately trying to revive him. He felt a lump in his throat and his body felt like it was vibrating. Every pump on Rook’s chest felt like another eternity, and he could hardly take it anymore. He couldn’t lose his friend like this!! Rook couldn’t be leaving him now!

“Rook!! Rook, please!!” he found himself crying, hugging himself as if it would somehow make it better. “Please wake up! You can’t die, you can’t! You’re my partner! I need a partner, right? You know that right? I need you! Please, please, come back!” he shouted hysterically, his breathing hitching. 

Suddenly, miraculously, Rook let out a fragile cough, his chest heaving for a moment. He began taking slow, timid breaths, his chest weakly moving up and down. The man sat up, panting and wiping sweat off his brow. He looked up at the other two with a small smile that looked rather forced. 

A sound Ben couldn’t identify left his chest and he lurched forward and grabbed his friend’s shoulders again, pulling the body towards him. “Rook!” he said again, just repeating the name over and over and praying for his partner to wake. 

One orange eye fluttered for a moment, the other seemingly locked shut from the blood. It opened halfway, lazily floating around as it tried to focus on something. It landed on Ben and settled there. 

Ben felt relief pour over him like a tsunami when he realized Rook was staring at him, and found himself smiling weakly at his partner. “H-Hey, Rook. You still with me? You’re with me, right?” He pulled him into his lap again, his hands trembling as he held him close. “You got my back, partner? Right? C-cus.. cus I got yours! You know?” he ranted, words just bubbling out of him as he reached for something he didn’t know. He knew now that he was definitely panicking, but Rook would be okay now, right?

His partner said nothing, barely moved. The one eye that could open just looked up at him almost blankly, but their was a bit of recognition in there. His chest heaved again for a moment and he let out a shuddering cough. It still sounded incredibly weak and it made Ben worry even more, especially when he saw blood leak from the corner of his mouth. 

“Hey, hey, j-just hang in there, dude,” Ben muttered, biting his lip and trying to smile. “Just stay with me, okay? Stay with me! You’ll be okay, be okay. I promise. I’m gonna.. I’m gonna... you just stay with me. You’re gonna be okay. Right? Right? Yeah,” he rambled, trying to assure his friend. He felt like he had to. He had to! Rook had to have something to hold on to!

Rook blinked once as he gasped for a breath, stirring over so slightly. Ben smiled and squeezed his shoulder, assuring him that he was there. His partner stirred again, as if trying to say something, but he didn’t have the strength. His eye rolled back into his head, and he slumped into Ben’s arms. 

Ben’s heart sank, and he silently called Rook’s name a few more times, but to no avail. He wanted to shake him, slap him, do anything to wake him up again, but his friend felt so fragile in his arms he thought any jarring movement would break him. At the very least, he was still breathing, weakly and silently, but it was something. 

Ben finally looked up again, his eyes filled with worry as he stared at the Plumbers in front of him. They had multiplied in such a short time; whereas there had been just two before, now there were at least seven. They were either cleaning away debris or crowding around Ben and Rook. 

The man who had performed CPR on Rook, who Ben now remembered as an officer named Clyde, placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and smiled at him a bit. “Don’t worry, Ben. Ceria called the med team. They should be arriving in a bit, okay?”

Ben could only nod, unsure of how to reply any other way. The officer squeezed his shoulder and hold him to hang tight, before standing up and talking to another officer. Ben saw them cast quick glances back at Rook every so often and could hear the stress in their hushed voices. 

The hero looked back down at his partner and tried to keep it together, biting his lip again. He lifted one arm and wiped his face, the blood smearing away from his eyes. He realized with a start that there were tears running down his face as well. How long had he been crying? He hadn’t even noticed it. He sighed and hugged his partner tightly, praying over and over for Rook to wake up and tell him that it was okay.


	2. TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you guys know, this fic is mostly just for my own enjoyment. If it seems choppy or strange in some places, don't worry about it. I'm not. ^^

Ben didn’t even realize that the medics had arrived until he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked, a little confused. He sat up slowly, the movement making his head throb. He winced and shut his eyes again, hissing through clenched teeth weakly. He felt something shaking him again and he groaned. Could they stop that? It was really making his head hurt. He felt like he was covered in a heavy blanket. Everything sounded muffled and even when he opened his eyes, his vision was cloudy. 

“-en! BEN!”

The hero jumped when actual sound suddenly slammed into his ears, his eyes clearing almost instantly. Grandpa Max was holding his shoulders and shaking him, his face twisted with concern. 

“Ben! Talk to me!” he said urgently, taking the boy’s head and turning it from side to side. 

“Ugh,” Ben groaned, flinching again as his head pounded. He grabbed his grandpa’s wrist gently, making the older man freeze. “Okay, okay, I’m up. Stop shaking me, it hurts.”

Grandpa Max heaved a sigh of relief, wrapping his arms around his grandson and carefully pulling him into a hug. Ben felt so fuzzy and sluggish that he accepted it without a word, hazily staring at the smoking concrete and debris. His head was pounding and everything hurt. He wanted to go back to sleep and stay in bed forever, but something told him to stay awake. Something urgent. 

The hero suddenly jumped within the hug, pulling himself out of Grandpa Max’s arms gripping his shirt tightly. “Where’s Rook?” he asked quickly, his eyes wide. Memories of Rook’s battered body and dying breaths flashed in his head, and he wanted to scream. “Is he okay? Please tell me he-“

“Easy, Ben,” Grandpa told him, taking the teen’s wrists. He paused for a moment, his eyes flickering with an adult knowing that made Ben feel scared. “He’s over in the emergency vehicle,” he finally said, gesturing to one of the many Plumber vehicles farther off to the right of them.

The back doors to the vehicle were still open, and Ben could see his friend laid out on the stretcher inside. Two medics were looking him over and speaking to each other with stressed expressions. He could see the blood stains on their hands and his heart jumped to his throat. 

Ben moved to get up, but cried out in pain when his leg crumbled from under him, his knee hurting like fire. Grandpa Max grabbed his shoulders and held him still, even as his grandson struggled against him. 

“No! I have to get to him! He needs me, Grandpa!” he shouted, weakly trying to escape his elder’s grasp. “He’s hurt really bad! I have to-“

“Ben!” the older man interrupted him again, taking his arms and holding him still. “I know you’re upset. But not in a good condition either. You should see yourself.”

“I don’t care, Grandpa!” Ben shouted angrily, and to his surprise he felt tears brimming in the corners of his eyes. “Rook is my partner! He is, right? And he’s probably dying! I need to be there!” he cried, looking over to the vehicle. The doctors were now closing the doors and the engine began to start up. 

Grandpa Max pulled Ben into a hug again, squeezing him tightly. “It’ll be alright, Ben.”

It was one sentence, and such a simple one to. Other any other circumstances, Ben wouldn’t even need to hear it. He was usually so confident that he could handle anything. Yet, they were the words he needed to hear at that moment. They were the words that the teen had wanted so badly to hear Rook say. He broke down and starting crying, actually crying this time instead of just tears. He rubbed his eyes with his palms as he sobbed through gritted teeth, his body aching and trembling with physical and emotional pain. 

Grandpa Max held him close, allowing the boy to let it out. Ben had always been a strong, confident boy, one who handled dangerous and usually terrifying situations with ease that he normally didn’t see in kids, or even some adults. But at the end of the day, Ben was still just a boy, with so much responsibility on his shoulders and with so much he could painfully lose. Today was an example of that. 

Ben didn’t know how long he was crying, or how long Grandpa was holding him. When he finally calmed down a little and was able to see through the tears, he had been carried into another ambulance himself. His grandpa was sitting beside him, one arm around him still, as a medic looked over Ben’s wounds. The teen could tell that they were moving, most likely heading back to Plumber Headquarters. 

The medic was feeling Ben’s injured knee, making him stiffen and breathe in sharply through his nose. The pain was getting worse and worse and he just wanted it to go away. The alien medic, a fish like alien like Magister Patelliday, looked up at him. 

“Your knee is dislocated,” he told him. “Not a difficult fix, and it will feel much better once I set it back in place.”

Ben snorted half-heartedly, smirking a bit. “I feel a but coming on,” he droned. He saw Grandpa Max smile a little beside him, patting his arm. 

“It’s going to hurt when I pop it back,” the fish alien told him, “but the pain will soften rather quickly. From there, I will splint it so it can heal properly.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ben said weakly, leaning his head back on the wall of the vehicle. 

The medic nodded and looked down at the teenager’s knee again. He put his hands around it and felt around for a moment, before jerking it rather suddenly. There was a loud POP as it snapped back into place, and Ben allowed himself to scream at the shock of agony that flew up his leg. As quick as it had come, it subsided, the pain lessening into a dull throb. He sighed in relief and leaned on his Grandpa Max’s shoulder, closing his eyes and allowing himself to relax a little as the medic bandaged it. 

He supposed crying and blacking out for a bit had calmed him a bit. Things were still dreadful, and his insides felt like they were being squeezed, but he felt like he could manage his emotions now. He almost felt stupid for losing it like that; where was the cool Ben that handled emergencies with confidence and ease? Then again, this felt like the worst day of his life in all of his days as a hero. 

When he had first met Rook, he would have never guessed he would have gotten this close to him. In the beginning, he hadn’t even wanted another partner! Gwen and Kevin were the only ones he had imagined ever working with, ever being able to enjoy working with as much as he did. Rook had been too stiff for his liking and he was almost insulted by his presence at times. Now, he felt like he was losing a brother. The pain was so strong it made him want to hurl and scream at the same time. Losing his partner.. his friend.. felt like losing a part of him. 

He couldn’t lose Rook. 

Tears welled up in his eyes again, but he felt too weak to wipe them away this time. He grit his teeth and bit the inside of his cheek. Eventually, he let out a shuddering sigh, staring at the wall in front of him sadly. 

“Grandpa?” he called softly, not making any effort to move or look up. 

Grandpa Max rubbed his arm to let him know that he was listening. 

“Rook’s gonna be okay, right?” he asked, his voice hitching a little. He didn’t dare say anything else, just waited anxiously for the reply. 

For a minute, Grandpa Max was silent. Ben could tell he was trying to find a way to word this without hurting Ben. At this point, however, Ben didn’t see how it *couldn’t* hurt. 

“I don’t know, Ben,” he eventually admitted. “I don’t know.”

The teenager nodded a bit, one tear slipping down his cheek. He sniffed a little and forced himself to wipe it away. “He’d better be. He’s too determined to be my best partner to die,” he said, forcing himself to laugh a little bit. It only made his chest feel a tiniest bit lighter. 

Grandpa Max chuckled a little, rubbing the boy’s arm gently. “Rook’s a good man.”

“Yeah,” Ben said softly, nodding his head. He groaned at the increasing pain he felt in his head afterwards. 

Grandpa Max and the medic looked at him in concern. The head wound had since closed and the blood had stopped flowing, but he had a considerable bump on his head that left him with an awful headache. The blood was dried in his hair and over his skin, where it hadn’t been smeared off. The medic was pretty convinced it was a smaller concussion, but he wanted to run more tests once they got back to headquarters. 

Ben closed his eyes and let himself rest the remaining part of the ride, although it wasn’t much longer. It felt like he only had a few seconds of distressed dozing before they were gently waking him up again. The teen groaned a little bit at the aching over his head and body. As much as he wanted to get this over with to see Rook, he felt so awful that his desire to lie down and sleep was nearly overwhelming. 

“Take it easy, son,” Grandpa Max told him, slinging Ben’s arm over his shoulder and helping him out of the vehicle. “You’re still pretty shaken up.”

“I got tossed around inside a truck,” the hero replied dryly, looking around slowly. He saw the other emergency vehicles that had already arrived or were arriving. “I guess I’m nowhere near as bad as Rook, though,” he added sadly. 

“You and Rook took the most damage,” his grandpa told him, helping him limp through the hall to the medical bay. “The officers and Plumbers managed to get far enough away for cover, though several were hit by some flying debris.”

Ben nodded, looking over at the agents that were helping the injured into the med bay. The injured agents looked like they were in pain, but they were able to move around a lot easier and didn’t seem to be in any serious danger. 

As Grandpa Max led Ben through some the area, they passed a room that was bustling with four or five medics. The teen caught their movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head slowly out of curiosity. He gasped a little when he saw Rook laid out on the bed, looking just as bad as Ben remembered. He paused and stared into the room with a grim expression, clenching his teeth as he watched the doctors hook Rook up to several machines. 

His grandpa watched for a moment as well, his face crestfallen as he stared at the poor agent’s condition. He sighed and squeezed Ben’s arm. “Come on, Ben,” he said gently. “You can see him soon, I promise, but you need rest.”

The boy didn’t protest as Grandpa Max urged him forward. His eyes remained locked on his partner for a few more moments before he finally tore his gaze away, squeezing his eyes shut and swallowing the rising lump in his throat. 

Grandpa led him to an empty room, helping Ben slowly, finally, lie down on the bed. The older man squeezed the boy’s hand and rubbed his palm with his thumb, trying to offer him some comfort. Ben turned his head and smiled a little, though it didn’t reach his eyes. Still, his grandpa returned the smile and nodded his head. He didn’t leave his grandson’s side even after the medics came in. 

The rest of that seemed a blur to Ben. The medics hustled around, their voices all mingling together and creating a muffled chorus of concerned words. He felt them pressing and prodding his knee and his head, and a few bright lights told him he was getting an x-ray. It all seemed muddled to him, even when the Galvins came to look at his Omnitrix. 

Finally, the medics left, setting the light to a lower setting and leading the Galvins out as well. Ben opened his eyes and looked around, almost surprised that they were gone. He saw that Grandpa Max was still next to him, sitting in a chair with his chin resting on his folded hands. 

“Grandpa..?” the boy said, his voice exhausted and weak. 

He looked up at his grandson, reaching over and gently patting Ben’s shoulder. “It’s alright, son,” he said, his voice quieted. “Get some rest. You need it.”

Ben made no protest, closing his eyes and letting his head relax. He was so exhausted, but he still desperately wanted to get back to Rook. As he began to doze off, he prayed that this was all just a bad dream, and he would wake up to another day of awesome adventures, his partner at his side, healthy and happy. 

But deep down, despite his grogginess, he knew that this was all real. 

The saddened hero fell into a dark, dreamless sleep, his chest still constricted with worry for friend.


End file.
